


Home Sweet Home

by Josh89



Series: Mini-Castles [9]
Category: Castle (TV 2009)
Genre: Airports, Alexis calls Kate Mom, Don't copy to another site, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Home, It's kind of sweet really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21802084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh89/pseuds/Josh89
Summary: Arriving home from three weeks in Venice, Rick and Kate, now married, are met at the airport by Alexis and their parents.
Relationships: Kate Beckett/Richard Castle
Series: Mini-Castles [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1562563
Kudos: 4





	Home Sweet Home

It’s a bright, sunny, afternoon in New York as Rick and Kate step off of the aeroplane onto the tarmac, and Rick gives his wife, the mother of his unborn child, a soft smile. “It’s so good to be back home” he says quietly.  
Kate blinks, broken from her thoughts by the sound of her husband’s voice, and she glances up, meeting his sparkling blue eyes with her own hazel ones. Realizing she hasn’t heard him, Rick reaches out with his left hand, wrapping it around his wife’s waist. She leans casually into his side, her head resting on his shoulder, and inhales the familiar scent that she has come to associate with her husband. “It certainly is. And with the whole horrible Bracken conspiracy finally so close to being over… We can finally enjoy our life the way that we deserve to, Rick. We don’t have to worry about snipers or corrupt NYPD detectives or hitmen hired by corrupt US Senators trying to kill us. Or… well, the list of things we don’t have to worry about goes on for a long time, but I think you get the general idea” she replies just as quietly.  
“I do indeed. Come on, let’s go. We still have a lot to do before we can meet up with our family”.  
~One and a half hours later~  
The minute the couple step out of the arrival’s gate and into the airport lobby, they are spotted by a red-haired young woman. “Mom! Dad!”  
Rick and Kate glance at each other in surprise, neither of them expecting that. “Did she really just call me that?” Kate wonders.  
Rick gives his wife a soft smile, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. “Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me. You’ve been more of a mother to Alexis over the past six years than Meredith ever was. Plus you are her step-mother now. So if she wants to call you mom, it's fine by me” he responds gently.  
The detective sighs softly, nodding. “I guess. It’s just… It feels like I’m taking Meredith’s place in Alexis’s life by letting her call me mom. And I know it’s silly, I really do, but it’s… I know Meredith was never really the mother figure that Alexis needs, or the mother figure that she deserves, but I don’t think I really deserve to take that place. I’ll probably get used to it soon enough, but… it just sounds weird, you know?”  
Her hand finds her husband’s, and he squeezes it softly, reassuringly, giving her a soft smile. It doesn’t take them long after that to join Alexis and their parents by the wall where they’re waiting for them, and Castle pulls his daughter into a quick hug, pressing a soft kiss to the red-haired girl’s forehead as he does so. “I missed you guys so much” Alexis whispers.  
“We missed you too, pumpkin”.  
Alexis smiles at the familiar nickname. Rick pulls away just a couple of seconds later, and Kate, who is watching them, her hazel eyes sparkling happily and a gentle smile on her face as she rests one hand on the barely-there swell of her stomach, barely hesitates before pulling the younger woman into a hug. “I’m so glad that you guys are home, mom. The loft just wasn’t the same without the two of you”  
Kate’s heart skips a beat at her step-daughter’s words, and she buries her face in the girl’s hair, inhaling in softly. “Believe me, Alexis, it’s such a relief to finally be home. Venice was beautiful, of course, and it was a relief not to have to worry about work for three weeks, but it’s just such a relief to be back in New York right now”.  
The girl in her embrace hesitates momentarily, and Kate looks down at the sound of Alexis’s voice. “Did you… Did you happen to hear anything interesting while you were in Venice?”  
“Care to define interesting?” Kate queries impishly.  
A quick glance at Cast… at Rick, since they’re both officially Castle now, have been for a little over three weeks, though she’s always going to go by Beckett at the Precinct… and her husband nods, wordlessly reassuring her that he knows what she’s thinking. “Like… information about a certain high-profile Senator?”  
“You mean Bracken?”  
The red-haired girl nods, and Kate smiles softly at her step-daughter. “Yeah, we did hear some very interesting information about Bracken. He’s been arrested. Multiple charges, including conspiracy, several counts of murder, extortion, money-laundering, associating with known criminals… oh, and perverting the cause of justice. We couldn’t have done it without you, Alexis. You have no idea how immensely proud your father and I are of you right now” she replies quietly, only Rick and his… their… daughter hearing her.  
Alexis glances up in surprise. “What do you mean?”  
Rick chooses that moment to join the hug, folding his long arms easily around both Kate and Alexis. “Ryan called us just after we got to our hotel in Venice, pumpkin. He told us what you found in one of the elephants on Kate’s desk. The recording of Captain Montgomery talking to Bracken and Bracken confessing his involvement in the deaths of Kate’s mother and her colleagues. Thanks to you, we finally have the evidence we need to put him away for the rest of his life”  
Alexis smiles. “I didn’t do much really. Just noticed that part of the elephant didn’t fit correctly, like it had been removed and replaced shortly afterwards. It actually makes me think of something you told me not long ago, mom”  
Again, Kate’s heart skips a beat at the simple sentiment from the red-haired girl. And she knows that Alexis isn’t her biological daughter, that the red-haired girl has a mother who, though flighty and irresponsible, loves the girl in her own way, but she can’t bring herself to tell Alexis not to call her that. No, the younger woman needs that maternal figure in her life, someone she can talk to about matters that would embarrass her father, and the detective is perfectly content to fill that role for her. “Oh?”  
“Family always watch out for each other”  
Kate and Rick share a glance, Rick chuckling. “So very true”.  
The couple share another glance, relieved to finally be home, before grabbing the last of their bags and heading for the exit with Alexis and their parents.


End file.
